Newspaper Article 1994 – Trip down memory lane

Trip down memory lane: Hastings businessman Piet van Asch, centre, went for a flight down memory lane on Saturday when he was invited to Bridge Pa Aerodrome for a ride in a restored Beech 18 C-45. The plane was restored by six members of the confederate Air Force New Zealand Wing Trust, based at the North Shore Airfield. Mr van Asch flew an earlier model of the plane, an AT-11 Kansan, from 1943 till 1980 for the Hastings-based firm of New Zealand Aerial Mapping, which he founded in 1936. That plane was sold in 1980, and spares went to the Auckland club. The restoration took more than eight years, and cost $50,000 plus the purchase price of $150,000. It has been restored as authentically as possible, including being painted in American wartime colours. The planes were used in the Second World War for VIP transport and navigational training. Mr van Asch is pictured with pilots Matt Wakelin, left, and Geoff Sheehan.